Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Jimmy Kimmel apologized on His Show
On his own initiative, Jimmy Kimmel apologized on air during his own show on the night of Oct. 28th. He said, "I am sorry. I apologize." See it for yourself. Click on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWGmSWZzcpA .

Associated Press Reported ABC's Public Apology
AP reported ABC's apology. It sent out an article entitled "ABC apologizes for joke on 'Kimmel' about killing Chinese people" which is fair enough. Tens of mainstream media published the story. To see all the stories, click on https://www.google.com/#q=Ap+ABC+apology&start=10.

However, at least 90% of the media changed the title to "ABC apologizes for child's joke on Kimmel's show" (emphasis added by SB Woo). That change is unfortunate and misleading, because most Americans will find it silly to apologize for a child's joke.

Some of us may think Jimmy Kimmel is a big deal – a star! However, within ABC corporation, the two executives who signed the public apology conveyed by 80-20 are many levels higher than Kimmel. Some of us may find the kids' statements offensive. Most Americans accept that "Kids say the darndest things."

Most readers may NOT realize that "Jimmy Kimmel Live" was not live. It was taped, reviewed, perhaps edited and then aired. If the kids had said "kill all Jews or blacks", the offensive segment would NEVER have been shown. In other words, there was a grievous mistake in judgment committed by ABC's middle level management. It was on that ground that 80-20 convinced the high level ABC executives to tender "our sincere apology" to people of Chinese descent worldwide.

Is ABC's Apology Public or Private?
ABC's letter of apology was on our website. That link was emailed to 350,000 AsAm families. The letter was also published in the front page of the World Journal. Now it is also an AP story, and published by tens of mainstream media. So how much more public can an apology be?The Honor of Our Community
The honor of the Chinese American community has been successfully defended, owing to the efforts of many. We congratulate one and all.

To Empower Ourselves

Want to live in the dignity that Jewish Americans enjoy? Then donate your time & money like the Jewish Americans!" To donate to 80-20's Self Empowerment Long-term Fund, SELF, click here: http://admin.80-20nj.info/cgi/80/e?l=8/au/1/f&w=no. God helps those who help themselves. Let's deal with the root cause of our community's weakness. Thank you. :-)

Sunday, October 27, 2013

After 2.5 days of hard negotiations, 80-20 obtained an apology from ABC for airing the "kill every Chinese" segment on "Jimmy Kimmel Live", which is actually not live. 80-20 took ABC executives to task for their grievous lack of judgment. On the other hand, we can shrug off those kids' statements, because "Kids say the darndest things."

Two high-level ABC executives asked 80-20 to convey ABC's "sincere apology" to all persons of Chinese descent. On 10.23.2013, after S. B. Woo, President of 80-20 PAC contacted ABC, it immediately took down the offensive segment on Youtube. However, 80-20 didn't announce that progress, because intense negotiation was continuing.

80-20 PAC is proud to have served the Chinese Am. component of the Asian Am. community by being the ONLY organization to have obtained a verbal & written apology from ABC.

This incident is a teachable moment for our community -- the importance of an Asian Am organization that has the stature & ability to serve the rightful interests of our community. It illustrates the importance of SELF RELIANCE. Please DONATE to 80-20 EF's SELF project. Click on http://admin.80-20nj.info/cgi/80/e?l=8/au/1/f&w=no. EF has already raised $635,000. Visit the Acknowledgement Page here.

PRESS RELEASE: ABC Apologizes to People of Chinese Descent Through 80-20 PAC
80-20 PAC, which is by far the largest Asian American political action committee with an email list of 350,000 e-addresses, announced today that ABC's top executives gave verbal and written apologies for permitting an offensive segment on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" to air. It requested S.B. Woo, President of 80-20 National Asian American Political Action Committee, to be a conduit to convey "our sincere apology" to the "Chinese community, Asian Community, anyone of Chinese descent or any community at large."
ABC also apologized for letting the offensive segment on Youtube. ABC stressed that upon being contacted by 80-20 PAC, it has since "taken swift action" to remove it and promised to "edi it out of any future airing of the show."
The written apology was signed by ABC's Executive Vice President, Alternative Series, Specials and Late Night, Lisa Berger, and Vice President, Talent Development and Diversity, Tim McNeal.

Mr. McNeal also verbally requested S.B. Woo to convey ABC's eagerness to have Asian American writers, actors and producers apply for jobs with ABC. It is one way to avoid such an unfortunate incident in the future -- through diversity in its organization. McNeal said, "ABC takes achieving diversity very seriously." Interested parties may reach his office at Tim.McNeal@ABC.com.

Mr. McNeal has also offered to ask the producer of "Jimmy Kimmel Live" to "personally apologize." Woo preferred a written apology from the top executives, which was sent subsequently.

S.B. Woo said, "Many worked to achieve this success. 80-20 is very much aware that many different individuals and organizations in the Chinese, Asian and other communities have made great efforts asking ABC to apologize. They organized a petition at the White House, and planned demonstrations in NY & SF. The Chinese media, in particular, did an outstanding job in calling our community's attention to this unfortunate incident. It is their victory."

Woo also said, "Personally I don't consider it as an 80-20 victory at all. Instead, it is a sad teachable moment for our community. I humbly hope that this incident has shown our community the importance of SELF RELIANCE. 80-20 started communicating with ABC on Oct. 23. We together got the result before the White House did. :-)

Woo said, "Had we been like the Jewish American community, the outcome of this incident would have been even more satisfactory. The 3 largest social and civil rights Jewish American organizations have a combined annual expenditure of $168 million. In comparison, 80-20 PAC has an annual expenditure of $100k. The population of Jewish Americans is 6 million. The Asian Am population is 16 million. So the per person expenditure by the big 3 Jewish orgs is $28. The per person expenditure of 80-20 PAC is $0.007. The expenditure ratio is 4000 to 1! That is why 80-20 Educational Foundation is trying to establish a Self Empowerment Long-term Fund, SELF, of $10 million/year for 5 years. Go visit http://admin.80-20nj.info/cgi/80/e?l=8/au/1/f&w=no ."

Woo stressed, "Turn your anger into action. Donate at least $100/year for 5 years to 80-20's SELF project, if your family income is $100k/year. There are 250,000 such Chinese American families. How many such families have sacrificed a little to help establish our group political clout? It's not too late to start today! We can't be outspent 4000 to 1 and expect the same quality in results. To live with the dignity of Jewish Americans, we need to DONATE like Jewish Americans!"